Truth in Publishing: Federal Regulation of the Press's Business Practices, 1880-1920.

Lawson, Linda

Examining the other side of the textbook image of the role of the early 20th century press as "crusader," this book presents a policy history of government regulation of the print media's business practices in the early 20th century. The first part of the book documents the press's inner workings,including its excesses and abuses, as it evolved from a collection of small businesses in the mid-1800s to an established commercial institution of the twentieth century. The second part of the book examines the regulatory actions brought about by publishers' fierce competition for advertisers and readers. In analyzing what this episode in policy making reveals about Progressive ideology's reliance on publicity and regulation to solve social and economic problems, the book integrates many of the apparently paradoxical strands of scholarship on the Progressive period. Chapters in the book are: (1) Introduction; (2) Hidden Ownership; (3) Disguised Advertisements; (4) Circulation Liars; (5) The Press Examined; (6) Ownership Disclosed; (7) Advertisements Identified; (8) Circulation Revealed; (9) Publicity as an Antidote for Press Abuses. A selected bibliography of books, journal articles, special archival collections, trade journal and newspapers, and government documents is attached. (RS)